Ready-to-eat (“RTE”) meat logs, or chubs, are rolls of processed meat which can be, for example, of a diameter from about 3 to about 6 inches, and up to about 72 inches in length. After the meat logs are processed, i.e., prepared, they must be sliced for market. In order to slice the meat logs in a cost effective manner, especially in consideration of the amount of material that must be sliced, it is necessary to cool and preferably freeze the surface layer of the meat log for proper and effective slicing. The cylindrical shape of the meat log makes them difficult to freeze in standard chilling tunnels and, in those situations where the crust is frozen unevenly, the slicing process is less effective and the cutting device becomes clogged with the meat material.
The market for ready-to-eat (“RTE”) products offered in supermarkets is increasing, as is the need for cost-effective slicing processes.
An unfrozen meat log impacted by a slicing blade is cut less effectively and less accurately than would be the case when using a surface frozen meat log. Conventional meat log cutting apparatus, upon retraction of the blade for a subsequent cut, cause portions of the product to adhere to the blade, which portions are flung about the processing area, while some of the material is retained on the blade surface during the subsequent cut. This causes increased maintenance and repair of the blade and support for the machinery, and is a less effective processing of the meat log. In machines conducting 1000 slices a minute, this could translate into a 5-15 percent loss of product.
Typical meat log processing apparatus include the following:    1. Conveyer belts upon which the food product is conveyed to a chilling region, which chills only one side of the meat log.    2. A plurality of meat logs are loaded in bulk into a large cryogen freezer, and the cooling medium is circulated about the meat logs in order to cool them to where the meat logs are ready for slicing.
However, these known processes take from 15 minutes to 4 hours, depending upon the equipment installed and the consistency of the composition of the meat logs. These known apparatus and methods are not cost effective, are time consuming, and consume large amounts of floor space.
Other apparatus and methods of crust-freezing meat products in preparation for cutting or slicing operations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,442, which is directed to a method and apparatus for forming a frozen crust on a preformed meat body by direct immersion of a pumped, meat stream in liquid nitrogen in a freezer, followed by downstream severing and patty formation; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,472, which is directed to a method and apparatus for freezing the surface of loaf-shaped meat products by compressing the loaf against a refrigerated contact surface prior to slicing. These apparatus and methods involve direct contact with either a liquid or solid heat exchange medium.
It would therefore be desirable to have a high gas-flow cruster apparatus and method, which uniformly freezes the exterior surface crust of the meat log and also is adapted to conform to the shape of the meat log for effective and accurate processing thereof.